Sole-nail retainer.



M. E. FERNALD. I SOLE NAIL RETAINER. APPLICATION HLED APR. 9, I9l5. RENEWED OCT. 6,1917.

1,267,065. Patented May 21,1918.

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STATE PATENT @FFTQE.

MARK E. FERNALD, OF SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS, A'SSIGNOR TO C. G. BLAKE, INCOR- PORATED, 015 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SOLE-NAIL RETAINER.

Application filed April 19, 1915, Serial No. 22,312.

T '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARK E. FERNALD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Saugus, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sole-Nail Retainers, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to lasts which are used in the manufacture of boots and shoes.

' The object of the present invention is to provide lasts with sole nail retainers of simplified and improved construction whereby the alinement of the sole and last may be effected without care or attention on the part of the operative and which will in crease the longevity of the lasts by obviating the necessity of driving the nails or tacks into the Wood of the last.

To the accomplishment of this object and such others as may hereinafter appear the features of the invention relates to certain devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and then set forth broadly and in detail in the appended claims which possess advantages that will be apparent to those skilled in this art.

The various features of the present invention will be readily understood from an inspection of the accompanying drawing illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of an inverted last showing a sole secured to the bottom thereof;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail of the ;sole nail retainer;

Fig. 3 illustrates in plan and elevation the plate which is provided with the expansible disk;

Fig. 4 illustrates in plan and elevation the holder; and

Fig. 5 illustrates in plan and elevation the bifurcated distensible disk for gripping the shank of the nail.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention a sole 1 is secured to the bottom of a last 2 by three tacks or nails 3. The nails instead of penetrating the wood of the last extend loosely within holes 4 formed in the last. Each nail is held in position within the hole 4 by a retainer 5 which is mounted within a socket 6 (Figs. 1' and 2). The re tainer 5 comprises a holder 7 (Fig. 1) which fits the bottom of the socket 6 and Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1918.

Renewed October 6, 1917. Serial No. 195,204.

which is provided with a central nail passage 8 registering with the hole 4. Mounted within a seat 9 formed in the holder 7 is a bifurcated disk 10 provided with a central nail passage 11 the split walls of which grip the shank of the nail and holdthe nail within the last. The disk is bifurcated by a split extending in one direction from a point adjacent the center of the disk to the peripheral edge of the disk. The upper end of the passage 11 is flared at 12 (Fig. 5) to remove the sharp corner which would tend to score the shank of the nail during its insertion into and its removal from the nail passage 11. The flare 12 also guides the point of the nail into the passage thus preventing the point from sticking into the upper face of the disk 10.

In order to lock the holder 7 with its contained disk 10 within the socket 6 the last is provided with a plate or plug 13 (Fig. 3) which is connected by a narrow neck 14 to a disk 15 which is normally dished as shown in Fig. 3 so that its peripheral edge has the same circumference as the plate 13. When first inserted within the last-the edge of the disk 15 rests upon the vertical peripheral wall of the holder 7. Pressure is then brought to bear upon the top of the plate 13 which causes the disk 15 to expand until its lower face is flat, in which condition it rests upon the holder 7 and the disk 10, and its edge is sunk into the wood of the last. The holder 7 and the disk 10 are thus locked in position to receive the shank of the nail. The plate 13, the neck 14: and the disk 15 are connected by a central nail passage 16 slightly larger than the shank of the nail.

In making the last 2 the hole 4: is first bored in a direction normal to the bottom of the last. The hole 4 is then employed as a guide for the counterbore which bores the socket 6 in the last. The holder 7 with the disk 10 seated within the seat 9 is inserted within the socket. The disk 15 is then laced on the holder 7 and the plate 13 is riven downwardly to flatten the disk 15, sink the-edge of the disk 15 into the wood of the last, and bring the upper face pf the plate 13 flush with the bottom of the ast.

In order to register the sole on the bottom of the last the sole is marked at three places corresponding to the three nail pas.-

sages 16 on the bottom of the last. The nails are then driven through the sole. The operative then inserts the nails in the passages 16 and drives the nails downwardly 5 until the sole is pressed against the bottom of the last. With this construction and mode of operation the Sole is properly located on the last without care-or attention on the part of the operative. The split Walls of'the nail passage 11 readily yield to permit the withdrawal of the nails from the sole after the lasting operation. By the use of the sole nail retainers 5 the life of the lasts is greatly increased. Obviously 15 the sole nail retainers 5 effect a considerable saving in the cost of making boots and shoes.

It will be clear to those skilled in this class of machines and with the general objects of the present invention in view, that tacks may be retained in the lasts instead of nails and that changes may be made in the details of structure the described and illustrated embodiment thereof being intended asv an exploitation of its underlying essentials the features whereof are definitely stated in their true scope in the claims herewith.

What is claimed as new, is

3v 1. A sole nail retainer comprising 'a disk provided with a slit extending, from a point adjacent the center of the disk, in one direction to the peripheral, edge of the disk.

2. A sole nail retainer comprising a disk,

and. a single nail passage formed therein. and

provided with a slit extending in one direction, from a point adjacent the nail passage, through said passage to the peripheral edge of the disk.

40 3.v A sole nail retainer comprising a disk provided with a slit having a depth equal to the thickness of the disk and extending from a point adjacent the center of the disk in one direction .to the peripheral edge of the disk.

4. A sole nail retainer comprising a disk having a. central nail passage provided with split walls, one of said splits extending to the peripheral edge of the disk, substantially as described.

5. A last, having, combination, a de-,

vice constructed to grip the shank of a nail, and a holder therefor constructed to loosely embrace the shank of the nail intermediate the point of the nail: and said device, substantially as described.

6..v A last, having, in combination, a device constructed to grip: the shank of a nail, a holder therefor constructed to loosely embrace the shank of the nail, and means for locking the holder within the last, substantially as described. 4

7. A last, having, in combination, a device. constructed to grip the shank of a nail, 6.5 a holder therefor constructed to loosely embrace the shank of the nail, and a disk having its edge sunk into the wood of the last for locking the holder Wltlll-Il the last, substantially as described.

8. A last, having, in combination, a holder having a flat bottom and a vertical peripheral wall mounted within the last and constructed to loosely embrace the shank of a nail, a disk mounted Within the peripheral Wall of the holder arranged to grip the Z5 shank of the'nail, and a second disk having its lower face engaged with the, top of the peripheral wall and upper face of the first disk and its edge sunk into the wood of the last, substantially as described. v

9. A last having a socket formed in its bottom, having, in combination, a holder having a flat bottom arranged-to restupon the bottom of the socket in the last, a vertical peripheral wall arranged to engage the vertical vwall of the socket, and a central opening arranged to loosely embrace the shank of a nail; a disk arranged to grip the shank of the nail mounted within the peripheral wall of the holder; and aplat'eplrovided with an expansible dis-k constructed to loosely embrace the shank of the nail, cover the socket in the bottom of the last, and lock the holder and the first disk within the socket, substantially as described.

10. A last having a socket formed in its bottom, having, in combination, a holder having a flat bottom arranged to rest upon the bottom. of the socket inthe last, avertical peripheral wall arranged to engage the 100 vertical wall of the socket, and. a central opening arranged to loosely embrace the shank of a nail; adisk arranged to grip the shank of the nail. mounted within'the peripheral wall of the holder; and a plate pro- .105 vided with an eXpansibledis-k arrangedto rest loosely on the vertical peripheral wall of the holder when contracted and to: penetrat'e the woodof the last andlock the holder and the first disk within the socket when expanded, substantially as described.

11. A holder for a sole naili retainer comprising a block having a seat formed one face and a central nail passage connecting the seat with. the opposite face of the block, substantially as described.

12. A cover plate for a socket in a last comprising. a plate constructed and ar ranged to fit into the socket, and: an expansible disk constructed to loosely fit the socket when contracted and to penetrate the wood of the last when expanded, substantially as described. a

13. A last, having, in combination, a block having a seat formed in one face' and a centralnail passage connecting: the seat with the opposite face of the block, a bifurcated disk for gripping the shank of the nail mounted in the seat in the block, and an. expan'sible disk constructed to: restu'pon 1 30 the block when contracted and to engage both the block and the bifurcated disk when expanded, substantially as described.

14. A last having a socket, a nail retaining device in said socket, and a securing member for said device anchored in the Wood of the last.

15. A last having a socket, a nail retaining device in said socket, and a securing member for said device constructed to enter said socket and to be expanded thereafter into anchoring engagement With the lateral Wall of the socket.

16. A last having a socket, a nail retaining device in said socket, and means for securing said device in said socket comprising a member constructed and arranged to be distorted by the act of forcing it into said socket, the distortion so produced anchoring said member securely in the Wood of the last. 17. A plug for a socket in a last, and means for retaining said plug in the socket comprising an expansible member constructed and arranged to penetrate the Wall of the socket after it is positioned in said socket.

18. A plug for a socket in a last, and a securing member fast on the inner end of the plug and constructed to be expanded laterally to anchor it in the Wood of the last. 19. A plug for a socket in a last, and a securing member for, said plug shaped to enter said socket and constructed to be distorted sufficiently by the act of forcing it into said socket to anchor it securely in the last.

MARK E. FERNALD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

